Failing Test: Book One of The Shadow Series Page 18

  “You can call it you owe me one if you want,” Marcy replied with a child-like smile.

  Nicole suddenly appeared from around the side of the car. “For what?” she asked.

  Test and Marcy turned quickly, startled by her sudden appearance.

  “Marcy’s letting us . . . scratch that . . . she’s making us take her car,” said Test as he put his right arm around Nicole. Then with a quick jerk he looked back to Marcy. “Wait a second, I don’t know that I feel comfortable leaving you here. How are you going to get home?” he asked.

  “I’ve got my cell. I can just call Mark,” she replied.

  “How are you going to explain to your parents that you don’t have your car?” asked Nicole, still moderately irritated.

  Marcy rolled her eyes and spoke tenderly. “Just let me worry about that, okay? You guys have enough on your plate. Let me do this for you. Please?”

  Nicole looked back and forth between Test and Marcy.

  “Hey,” she said as she kicked gravel on the ground. “I’m sorry for a minute ago, guys. The heat and everything must be getting to me. I didn’t mean to be so nasty.”

  Test grabbed her by the hand but didn’t say a word. He just squeezed her hand and smiled. He then looked back to Marcy.

  “Okay. We are going to get back onto the interstate and get to the rest area on the other side. We’ll wait there until we can see that Mark has arrived to pick you up. Good enough?” he asked.

  “Sounds good,” replied Marcy. “Now, you guys had better get going before someone recognizes you.”

  “I suppose,” said Test. He looked to Nicole and asked jokingly while pointing to the still-open trunk. “So, do you want your luxury suite again, or would you like shotgun this time?”

  “Ha, ha! Very funny, Mr. Davis; how about I’ll just drive?” replied Nicole as she walked by Marcy and to the driver’s door of the car.

  “You don’t know where we’re going,” replied Test.

  “I follow directions quite well. Marcy, can I have the keys please?” asked Nicole as she held out her right hand.

  Marcy looked to Test and shrugged. “Sorry. The sooner you learn that the girl is the boss, the easier life will be for you . . .” She paused with a grin developing on her face and then continued. “Relatively speaking of course.”

  “Sure, relatively speaking. Of course,” repeated Test with a laugh. “All right, you two win.”

  Test gave Marcy one last hug. “We’ll see you soon, okay? Thank you much for everything, seriously. You have no idea.”

  Marcy interrupted, pointing to the interstate. “I know, I know. Now just get going, will ya?”

  Marcy walked over to Nicole and handed her the keys.

  “You’re the best, you know that? I wish we could have met sooner,” said Nicole.

  “It wasn’t in the plan yet,” replied Marcy, shrugging once more.

  Nicole cried and gave Marcy a giant hug. Marcy joined Nicole in the tears, and the two girls stood there for a minute and held each other. Forcing herself to let go, Marcy stepped up onto the sidewalk and walked away. Nicole wiped her eyes and gave an unseen wave. On the other side of the car, Test opened the door and climbed in while Nicole continued to watch Marcy walk away.

  “Come on, baby,” said Test caringly. “We’ve got to go.”

  Nicole climbed into the driver’s seat and put the key into the ignition. She looked to Marcy one last time, just in time to see her turn and wave. Nicole waved back and then looked to Test, sad and drained.

  “How is this going to work, Test? She’s right, we can’t hide forever.”

  “I don’t know everything yet, but we’ll figure it out. At least now we’re together, right?” he asked as he brushed some stray hairs from her face.

  Nicole nodded and started the car. She cruised up the entrance ramp and drove to the next exit to turn around. As the couple pulled into the eastbound rest stop, Nicole drove slowly down the road trying to find the best view of Marcy. Deciding on her spot, she pulled in and shut off the car.

  “Who was that man that you were with?” asked Nicole.

  The question caught Test off-guard. Turning to her, he replied, “What man?”

  “The older black man at the shopping center,” said Nicole.

  Suddenly Test’s mood became more depressed. “Oh . . . well . . . that’s kind of a long story. His name is Cliff.” He paused and, after a moment, lightly bumped the dash with his fist. “Damn . . . I can’t believe I left him there,” he said, ashamed. Continuing to look into the sky, he said somberly, “The night of the party, after I screwed everything up, I went home. I knew I couldn’t stay there so I left and wandered into a convenience store. I poured a cup of coffee and sat down. Before I knew it, there was this old man waking me up. He belly-ached at me for a minute, but then he sat down and talked to me. I just met the man, but it felt like I’d known him forever. I can’t explain it.” He turned to Nicole. “Long story short, he ended up saving me from the police that night and then even took me to his house for some sleep and breakfast. To be honest, he’s probably the only reason that I’m here with you now and not locked up.”

  Something about the old man didn’t seem right to her. She turned in her seat, putting one leg under the other, and said timidly, “When you were ‘carrying’ me over the top of Cliff and his car,” she said gesturing with her hands, “he kind of gave me the creeps.”

  Test sat up in his seat. “What do you mean?” he asked curiously.

  “With everything that was going on, most people would have been scared to death, right?” she asked.

  “I suppose,” he replied.

  There was an uncomfortable silence.

  “What is it, Nicole? Tell me.”

  Tucking her hair behind her ears, she said, “He was smiling at me. As I flew over top of him, he was smiling. He even winked at me!”

  Test could see it in his mind. In the short time that he had known Cliff, it just seemed like something that he would do. Just the same, with everything that was going on, it was a little odd.

  “I’ll admit that yeah, that is kind of weird, but Cliff is all right,” said Test defensively.

  “I didn’t mean to criticize him, honestly. I’m grateful to him for taking care of you. All I’m saying is that it was strange, and that it creeped me out a little,” she replied as she turned forward in her seat, gripping the steering wheel and arching her back.

  Test couldn’t help but stare as she leaned back in her seat. Her jet black hair hung like silk, the breeze causing it to ripple in waves. Her curves, graciously exposed, forced her clothing to stretch tightly, seeming to become a second skin. She leaned her head to the side, and with her eyes closed, rubbed her hands on her thighs. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked to him. He reached out to her and stroked her hair with the tips of his fingers.

  The couple sat silently for five minutes. With the heat and a gentle breeze coming through Test’s window, he found his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Before he knew it, he was drifting off to sleep.

  He suddenly found himself walking through a pile of rubble; concrete and wood tangled everywhere he looked. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Cliff standing behind him. The old man smiled and winked as his cigar hung from his clenched teeth. Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he gave Test a nod hello. “See you soon, son.”

  “Test, wake up. He’s here,” said Nicole, shaking Test lightly.

  Test awoke with a hard flinch. “Huh?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes. “Who, Cliff?” he asked.

  “No, Mark. He just pulled in to pick up Marcy,” she replied.

  “How long have I been out?” he asked.

  “About an hour. Do you feel better?”

  “Some,” he said while yawning. “We’d better get going. It’s a little drive to get where we need to go.”

  Nicole yawned deeply, and began her question in the middle of it. “So are you going to give me a hint of where we
are going?”

  Looking back to the sky, he replied, smiling, “There aren’t any clouds today; nowhere for the moon or stars to hide.”

  Chapter 18

  Sanctuary

  Nicole and Test headed down a dirt road with the sun setting on their left. Trees intermittently lined the sides of the road, causing the light to strobe and crackle in their eyes. Not having driven on dirt roads much, Nicole slowed her speed, afraid of the loose sand and rock that covered the peak and shoulders of the road.

  Test sat reclined and relaxed in the passenger seat, his window open and the cool early evening breeze blowing on his face. He held his hand out the window, his fingers extended outward, and let his hand surf loosely on the breeze.

  “Take a left up here,” said Test as he pointed. “At that drive right there.”

  Nicole turned into the dirt drive and pulled up to the old farmstead. As she parked the car, she examined the building and implements scattered on the property.

  Confused, she asked, “What’s this?”

  “Home sweet home,” he replied as he pulled on his door handle.

  With her mouth agape, she looked past him and to the weathered house. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Why? This place is special to me,” he replied sincerely. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  They got out of the car and stood on the dirt drive, their feet balancing on pieces of white, chalky rock, half buried in the dirt. Test inhaled deeply, taking in the intoxicatingly fresh air that surrounded him. Nicole walked around the car, squinting from the light of the setting sun, and took his hand. He stepped away from the car and began walking to the house, gently pulling Nicole along with him. It appeared that at one time a brick sidewalk had led to the front door. Time and earth had overtaken the majority of the path, however, small fragments of red protruded from the earth, mingled amongst the knee-high grass. The front door was still hanging on one hinge, just as it had been the last time Test had seen it. The roof, however, looked as if it had lost a few more rounds in its fight with gravity; the majority now lay hidden inside the walls of the home.

  Nicole surveyed the home, trying to picture it in her mind as it had been in its original glory. “I don’t know, Test, there’s not much of it left. If it rains, we’re swimming,” she said trying her best to be optimistic.

  “Yeah . . . you’re right,” he replied as he quickly turned away from the house. “How about we go look at the barn. It’s sweet!” he said to her with the excitement and innocence of a child.

  Nicole watched him walk away, almost skipping towards the car. “You are too cute, you know that?” she replied tenderly.

  He stopped at the car and looked over his shoulder. “Is that right?” he asked.

  With a giggle, she walked to his side, admiring his return to innocence. It seemed to bring out the best in him.

  “Yes, that’s right,” she replied.

  Hand in hand, they walked away from the house and across the yard to the barn. It looked much the same as the last time Test had been there. The steel bucket still lay in the yard where he had left it last, and the old truck remained in its final resting place with a shattered windshield.

  “This was where I came the day after I discovered my powers,” said Test, his gaze drifting across the horizon.

  “How did you find it?” asked Nicole.

  Plucking a long shaft of grass from the ground, he peeled the leaves one at a time. “Once in a while when I get stressed out, I’ll go for a drive. I found this place a year or so ago. It’s calming to me. I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “You don’t have to. I can feel it. I feel at peace now, too,” she replied as she bent down to pluck a dandelion bloom.

  “Come on,” he said, tugging at her elbow.

  They walked to the barn, stepping high so as not to trip in the tall grass. Suddenly, it occurred to Test that they had absolutely nothing. No lights, no blankets, no food . . . nothing. He didn’t want to mention his thought to Nicole for fear of making her upset again. Still, he had no solution.

  Standing at the main door to the barn, he noticed that it was hung by rolling wheels on a track. He took hold of the handle and tried to slide it open, but the wheels didn’t want to move. Rust and dirt had taken their toll on the old steel rollers. He backed up a step and held up his hands. The door shook, and, with the rust-locked wheel grinding on the track, slid to the side.

  Test entered the door first, swiping at cobwebs as he walked. The inside of the barn was dark and still. He walked with Nicole gripping his hand tightly. It was almost as if she was holding a lifeline. On the left side of the barn were two grain bins, the bases of the entry doors to each several feet off the ground. The first was completely barren, nothing on the cracked wooden floor but years of dust and the footprints of rodents that called the barn home. The second bin contained a shallow layer of corn cobs, long ago cleaned of their kernels by those leaving their footprints in the first. On the right side of the barn were stalls made of aged two by six pieces of lumber. In each of the stalls, light snuck through the cracks around the shutters, creating a frame of luminescence around the windows. The couple walked over to the second stall, opened the gate, and walked to the window. Nicole reached for the hook that was holding them closed and released it. With the old rusty iron hinges creaking, she pushed open the shutters, revealing a picture too beautiful to paint. It was spectacular. The prairie grass was like a beautiful green ocean waving in the breeze, back dropped by a flaming orange sky that was edged in pink. A couple of billowy clouds were floating on the horizon, and the crickets were starting their evening chorus. Test stepped up behind her and gently put his arms around her waist.

  “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he asked.

  In awe, she replied, “It’s incredible.”

  Mesmerized by the spectacle before them, the couple stood and watched as the last ounce of the blazing sun dropped behind the horizon. Test brushed the back of Nicole’s hair aside, gently kissing the back of her neck. He let her hair fall and, with his face buried in it, took in her scent.

  Nicole closed her eyes, overcome with pleasure. “So where’s the master bedroom?” she asked.

  “Well,” he paused. “I’d thought about here.”

  Nicole looked down to the barren wood floor. Test could tell what she was thinking, and she was right; it wouldn’t be comfortable as is. He looked up to the hay loft above and saw several small square bales of hay piled along the edge. He lifted his right arm, ready to grasp a bale, but stopped quickly, snapping his attention to the front door.

  “What’s that?” he asked, cocking his head curiously.

  “What? It’s just a car,” replied Nicole.

  “No one lives around here for ten square miles, Nicole. There shouldn’t be a car here.”

  Test rushed to the main door and peered out to the end of the drive to see a bouncing set of headlights coming towards him. Panicked, he jumped backwards into the barn.

  “There’s someone coming down the drive!” he shouted.

  Test trembled at the sight of the headlights. He had never considered the possibility of someone coming here. No one knew of this place but him, and he was positive that no one had followed them. Turning his back to the door, he walked towards Nicole and looked up. In an instant, he pulsed and flew from the main level to the hayloft. Quickly he spun around; arms outstretched, and brought Nicole hastily through the air to his side.

  Surprised and frightened, she steadied herself, rubbing her arms while wincing in pain. “Just relax, it’s probably just somebody that’s lost,” she said, attempting to regain her breath.

  “Be quiet!” replied Test. “They’ve stopped.”

  The sound of their breath seemed as loud as a hurricane’s wind in the stillness of the barn. Test was on fire. He was overtaken by a familiar sense of dizziness and struggled to stay focused. No! he thought. Not now!

  “Oh my God, Test,” whispered Nicole, breaking the
silence.

  “It’ll be okay. Just stay still and be quiet,” he replied as consolingly as he could.

  “No, Test. Look at your hands,” she replied again, only louder.

  In the darkness of the barn, the backs of his hands emitted a soft blue light. As he rolled them nervously, his palms revealed a dim red glow. She couldn’t speak.

  Test didn’t hear her words. Supremely focused on the visitor, he heard a car door slam shut, causing his adrenaline to surge even more.

  Overcome with fear, Nicole slowly backed away from Test on her hands and knees. She watched him carefully, his gaze fixated on the door and not noticing her retreat. Interrupting her focus, an unfamiliar voice shattered the silence.

  “Hello, son. Did you miss me?”

  Test’s body tensed in response to the question. Instantly, he recognized the voice. That’s impossible, he thought as he squinted to make out the identity of the figure in the doorway. “Cliff?” he asked hesitantly.

  “That’s right, son; get on down here! It’s gettin’ late, and the bugs are eatin’ me alive!” Cliff, inconvenienced by the trip he’d made, snapped.

  Test stood and looked to his side for Nicole to realize that she was no longer there. In a panic, he looked back for her. She was now on the other side of the loft and standing frozen with fear.

  Trying to comfort her, Test spoke softly, reaching his hand to her. “It’s okay, Nicole. It’s just Cliff.”

  From the doorway below, Cliff spoke with endearment to the girl he’d never met. “Come on, sweetheart. You’re okay. This boy ain’t gonna hurt you.”

  Cliff’s comment struck Test oddly. She’s not scared of me, he thought in response. Peering over the side of the loft, he yelled down to Cliff. “You scared the hell out of us, you crazy old man!”

  Test turned back to Nicole and walked towards her, reaching out for her hand once again. As if he was a gun, she flinched violently away from him and, with a blind step, found a hole in the floor of the loft. Test stared into her torture-filled eyes as she began her descent into the black.

  “Nicole!” he screamed as he sprinted towards her with his arms outstretched, desperately reaching for her.